Author: joshwilkerson

How Math Illumines Our Infinite God

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I was recently directed to a great article by John Van Sloten at thinkChristian on “How math illumines our infinite God.” In the article, Van Sloten addresses how a proper mathematical understanding of infinity informs our perception of our infinite God. The article also comes from a growing concern over the decreasing mathematical ability of the general populace. The closing question is a significant one:

If we don’t possess even basic math skills, how will we ever be able to engage the mathematical – that is, the logical, precise, trustworthy, universal, elegant, infinite and awe-inspiring – mind of God?

In addition to the article, John Van Sloten also gave a sermon at New Hope Church in Calgary entitled “God, Infinity, and Mathematics.” An entire sermon, given in a church, dealing with God and math. Preach on John. Preach on.

Geometry and Art

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I’ve written before about the relationship between mathematics and art.

Here is a great article from the New York Times on an art showing at the Museum of Modern Art. The artist is Dorothea Rockburne and the title of the exhibit is “Drawing Which Makes Itself.” Below is an image from the article and a few interesting quotes.

Spend an afternoon dipping in and out of galleries on the Lower East Side, and you are likely to encounter many examples of geometric abstraction — much of it offhand and whimsical. But if you want to see the work of an artist who cares deeply about geometry, pay a visit to Dorothea Rockburne’s austere, bracing exhibition of drawings at the Museum of Modern Art. The difference is instructive.

Ms. Rockburne, 81, studied with the German mathematician Max Dehn at Black Mountain College in North Carolina in the early 1950s. He taught her “mathematics for artists,” with an emphasis on forms found in nature; ideas from group theory, topology and non-Euclidean geometry drive her art, as do ratios like the Golden Mean, that staple of Renaissance art and architecture that used to determine pleasing proportioning within an artwork.

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The best of this show, though, is the set of early drawings: the ones that “make themselves,” with a little help from an artist who understands that all art, abstract or not, boils down to geometry.

Mathematic Beauty

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by Dave Sikkema

“Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but supreme beauty — a beauty cold and austere, without the gorgeous trappings of painting or music.” —Betrand Russell

As a 4th grade teacher in a Christian and classical school my job is to help students appreciate what is good, true, and beautiful about the world around them.  Naturally, most kids find the good, the true, and the beautiful in more popular subjects such as art and music (and, somehow P.E. and recess..) but they seem to find only the devil in long division and 3-digit multiplication.

Math, in their eyes, is a product of the Fall.  This is evident when they ask, through tears mostly, “Mr. Sikkema, why do I even need to know this!?” It seems to me they are really wondering, “What do all these numbers, and mathematical processes have to do with reality?”

This short video reminded me this morning that numbers have everything to do with reality.  Math is one of the many languages of God, and it offers a structure that is both good and true for the beauty we see around us.

math

Dave Sikkema is a 4th grade teacher at Regents School of Austin. This post was originally published on his blog “Backwards with Time” and is shared here with permission.